Warriors 100, Spurs 91: A just reward

Manu Ginobili called it like it was after Monday’s Game 1, allowing that the Spurs hadn’t deserved to win a contest in which they trailed Golden State by 16 with four minutes remaining. The ensuing comeback in double overtime was the first in NBA playoff history under such circumstances.

“It’s just one of those games that happens very rarely, like once in a thousand,” he said. (1 in 393, to be exact, but who’s counting?)

As such, the Warriors’ victory in Game 2 felt like poetic justice. The Spurs again threatened Golden State late. But this time the Warriors held firm, holding their veteran opponents off after what had been a 20-point lead shrunk to six late in the fourth quarter. And now the series shifts to the snake pit that is Oracle Arena, where the Spurs lost both meetings this season.

“This is everything,” Klay Thompson said leading all scorers 34 points. “It changes the whole dynamic of the series. We have the best home court in the NBA. To go back 1-1, give (our fans) a show on Friday, I’m getting jitters already thinking about it.”

Player of the game

Despite being an elite shooter in his own right, Thompson is typically relegated to living in Stephen Curry’s shadow. That’s been particularly the case during the playoffs as the latter has reeled off one scoring binge after another.

But it was Thompson’s turn on Wednesday, staggering the Spurs with 29 points and seven — seven!!! — 3-pointers in the first-half as Golden State built a 19-point lead. The Warriors needed every bit of it in the second half, during which the Spurs made another spirited charge. But the deficit was too much to overcome, and it was Curry’s turn to marvel at Thompson’s exploits.

“It was amazing,” he said. “He was aggressive and confident in every shot he took. He was feeling it, and you ride a guy who’s that hot. Even when he has a hand in his face, he can make it.”

As if his scoring wasn’t enough, Thompson led all players with 14 rebounds and helped limit Tony Parker to 7-for-17 shooting.

Key moment

As opposed to Game 1, when the two teams traded one huge shot after another, they both limped to the finish on Wednesday. The Spurs made only 1 of their last 7 attempts, while the Warriors were barely better at 2 for 6.

But how critical those last two shots were for Golden State. Both came courtesy of Curry, who had been virtually invisible after an 11-point first quarter. He missed 10 of 11 shots until late in the fourth quarter, when his contested layup in traffic restored Golden State’s lead to 97-89 with just under four minutes left.

Curry pushed the Warriors ahead by 10 roughly two minutes later, when he delivered the coup de grace with a contested jump shot over Kawhi Leonard.

Continuation

* In addition to evening the series at 1-1, the victory snapped Golden State’s 30-game losing streak in San Antonio. The Warriors last won here in February 1997, at which point Thompson had just turned 7 and Curry was 9. Curry seemed less impressed with the feat itself than the small detail that, after 16 years, Tim Duncan had finally been forced to drive home a loser against the Warriors.

“We’d heard about it, obviously,” Curry said. “That’s kind of unheard of. It’s nice for the organization to get this win. Maybe (Duncan) should take a different route, change it up. That’s pretty funny.”

* Stat of the night: The Spurs have led for a grand total of 2:17 in 96 regulation minutes during the first two games.

* State of the night II (per Ethan Strauss, WarriorsWorld.com): The Warriors have beaten the Vegas line eight games in a row.

* The Spurs were at a collective loss to explain how they could fall behind by 18 and 20 at home during the first two games.

“That’s the question,” Tim Duncan said. “We were lacking the focus, the intensity, whatever you want to call it. That put us in a hole. That second quarter really killed us. I don’t know what to say about it, honestly.”

Whatever the reason, they know it can’t continue if they expect to advance to the Western Conference finals.

“We’ve got to give them credit,” Ginobili said. “They played much better than us and miracles don’t happen often. We really have to do a better job (in Oakland) because we don’t have a chance if we play like this.”